(Jewish Group) In 'Portico,' a New Cookbook, the Food of Rome's Longstanding Jewish Community... [View all]

In ‘Portico,’ a New Cookbook, the Food of Rome’s Longstanding Jewish Community Gets Its Due

Ricotta cheese cake. Pasta and chickpea stew. Anchovies with endive. All of these dishes are commonly spotted on menus throughout Rome, yet people may not realize they trace their origins to the city’s Jewish Ghetto, and the community that has called it home for more than 2,000 years. (Just look to the beloved fried artichoke, carciofi alla Giudia, which literally means Jewish-style artichokes.)

There are three distinct groups of Jewish communities in Rome, each of which has contributed immensely to the city’s cultural and culinary treasure trove. The Italkim arrived back in the second century BCE, and have remained in the area ever since; the Sephardim of the Iberian Peninsula escaped to Rome during the Spanish Inquisition; and the Libyans moved here in the 1960s, when Jews were fleeing many Arabic-speaking countries (a large number of whom immigrated there because they already spoke Italian, given Libya was once a colony).

On August 29, this history will be celebrated in Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Rome’s Jewish Kitchen, a new cookbook exploring just that: la cucina Ebraica Romana. Written by Jewish food expert Leah Koenig (who has also authored the tomes The Jewish Cookbook and Modern Jewish Cooking), the book goes deep on the history, culture, and food of the community that helped shape so much of Roman cuisine.

We spoke with Koenig, who is based in Brooklyn, about the inspiration for the book—and her very favorite spots in the Jewish Ghetto.

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